Action board game



April 25, 1961 M. WEISS ACTION BOARD GAME Filed April 17, 1958 AT TO R N EY without departing i d tates Patent ACTION BOARD GAME Michael Weiss, Rockville Centre, N .Y., assignor to Transogram Company, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Apr. 17, 1958, Ser. No. 729,130

1 Claim. (Cl. 273-85) This invention relates to a simulated hockey game to be played on a board by two players, and aims to provide an action board game simulating hockey, in which the players manipulative skill and manual coordination are key factors, without at the same time requiring excessive exertion by the players.

Board or table games, in which the players manipulate objects on the board or table provided for the game, are very' useful in teaching children muscular control,,rapidity of reaction and coordination. Some of them, like billiards, emphasize muscular control, placing little emphasis on coordination between limbs, and none on rapidity of reaction. Others, like table tennis, involve all three factors, but such games generally involve hand and foot coordination, and are too active for many children. Some action board games, like simulated baseball games, reduce the activity by removing the foot action, but they lose therebyin failing to teach active coordination between limbs. Many simulated hockey games have been suggested, but like the baseball games, they permit full defensive or offensive action to be taken with one hand, so

that active limb coordination is not taught to children.

playing the game. 7

An object of this invention is the provision of an action board game in which muscular control, rapidity of reaction and coordination between limbs are essential to proper play of the game, while strenuous muscular activity is not involved.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an action board game which, while inexpensive to construct,

is sturdy and capable of withstanding the abuse given such games by children.

These and other objects of the invention are obtained, in accordance with the present invention, by providing a board simulating a hockey rink, a counter, preferably in the shape of afiat disc simulating a puck, and miniature hockey'sticks operated by the players, with receptacles simulating hockey cages'in the board. close to the ends thereof and in. the centers of the ends, and having openings facing the center of the board, guards capable of protecting only a minor portion of the openings, and

.. mounted for motionfin front of the cages and operable by the players to preventthepuck from being driven into i their respective cages by the opponent, the guard motion being limited so that on either side of the motion there the accompanying drawings, in whicha specific embodiment of the invention is shown 'by-wayaof example only, and not be way of limitation, modifications being possible; 7

from the inventionz'whichis defined in the claims;

V ll igure 1 is a plan view of the, board used for the; game in accordance withthe invention;

cageslin the back zones.

Figure 2 is a partial section, enlarged, through the line 22 of Figure l.

Referring to the drawings, I provide a rectangular frame10, preferably of Wood, which may be mounted if desired on legs 12, or may simply be rested on a table. The frame 10 is provided with a recess 14 all about the frame, in which is mounted the playing board 16, of wood or other material, preferably of composition such as tempered Masonite (processed bagasse fiber composition boards).

Near each end of the board, in its center, an opening 18 is provided, with an arcuate edge 20 facing the center of the board. A receptacle 22, simulating a hockey cage, is mounted in the opening. This receptacle or cage may be of wood or metal, but is preferably of plastic such as.

It consists of a dish portion 24 mounted on the board below its surface, the front edge 26 of which is curved like the edge 20 of the opening 18, to: provide an arcuate slot 28 in front of the cage. The top; 30 of the cage is semi-dome shaped, with the front of the semi-dome being preferably cut away on each side to provide a recess 32 which acts to enlarge the front of the A depression: 34 is preferably formed in the top 30; a scoring devicepolyethylene.

cage slightly on each end of the slot 28.

36 may be mounted in said depression.

The rear ends of both the bottom dish portion 24 of the cage, and the top 30 thereof, are provided with fiat arcuate extensions 38, which may be mounted on the board 16 either from below or from above and retained. by heat scaling to the board, or by fasteners 40 of any desired kind.

Immediately back of each cage 20, an opening 42 is: cut in the frame; a handle end 43 of a lever 44 projects through the opening. The lever 44 is pivoted to the board, by a pin 46; its other end is upset vertically toprovide a carrier rod 48, which carries a guard 50, which may be a metal'piece molded in the semblance of a hockey Movement of the lever by the handle end 43 will move the guard 50 over the front of the cage to.

goalie.

stop an object from entering it.

The game is played with a puck 52 driven by miniature hockey sticks 54. The board may be of any size, but is. conveniently about four feet long by three feet wide... Similarly the pucks and sticks may be of any convenient" size; a two inch puck and twelve inch sticks matchra four by three foot board.

In order to speed up the action of the game, and to place greater emphasis on coordination of limbs and; speed of reaction, stops 56 are provided which limit thee motion of the lever 44 and the guard 50 carried by it, at each end of each slot 28, so that there is at least just enough room for the'puck 'to pass between the guard 50"" and .the edge of the recess 32 when a shot is' properly aimed at this narrow opening. The size of the opening: can, of course, bevaried, with the skill desired to be tested; but it is desirable that little leeway bev allowedpi beyond the puck size.

- Caromjboards 58 are mounted on the board in the'cor uners of the frame 10; these are preferably set at approx-- imately 60xto the sides of the board and 30 to theends,

so that the puck, hit sharply against a board when driven. down the board, will carom back across the board to the other side. a

The board is preferably divided into back zones 60,

each occupying about 30% of theboard, and a middle zone 62;, occupying about 4072: of the board. Cage zones "64 are provided covering the area in front of the andfeach'playerf tries to drive the puck into his opponents cage. Each player may use his stick in'thel center zone .In play, thepuck is faced oifin the center of the board 64. He defends by interposing his stick in front of his end zone, or by manipulating his guard 50 by means of the lever 44,- by moving the handle 43. Thus, the game requires two hands, one for the stick and one for the guard lever.

. Furthermore, the game as set up permits of 'no static defense. If the stops'56 were not present, it would be possible to move the guard 'to one end, and interpose the stick in the middle zone 62, in front of the cage zone 64, and effectively stop an attack. But the stops 56 leave openings on both sides; the carom boards 58 permit very rapid moving of the puck from one side of the board to the other. Hence, the defender must be prepared, if the attacker has his puck on one side of the board, to use both the guard and his stick on that side; and he must be alert, so that if the opponent caroms the puck to the other side of the board, he can move both his hands rapidly enough to both get the guard shifted, and his stick as well. 7 n

Thus, the game requires both speed of reaction and coordination between the two hands, accurate aiming both for the hole between the end of the guards are or travel and the side of the cage, and accurate caroming. Each calls for muscular control. And quite obviously, there is no need for rapid exhaustive footwork as in table tennis. The game is thus a rapid action board game which affords instruction in teaching muscular control, rapidity of reaction and coordination between limbs, without being exhausting.

Obviously, the specific embodiment of the invention herein disclosed may be modified without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the claim.

-What is claimed is:

A simulated hockey game comprising a game board;

.4 simulated cages adjacent opposite ends of the board with openings therein facing the center thereof; markings on the board dividing it into a central playing zone, terminal defensive zones about the cages, and non-playing zones inside the defensive zones in front of the openings in the cages; a disc simulating a puck; carom boards in the corners of the board angled to carom a puck driven straight across the board back up and across the board to the other side; a guard member in front of the opening in each cage blocking a minor portion of said opening, and traversable across a major portion of said opening only from a position where there is just sufiicient 'room for the puck to enter the cage between said guard member and the adjacent end of said opening, to a position adjacent the opposite end of said opening where there is just suflicient room for the puck to enter the cage between said guard member and said opposite end of said opening, and miniature hockey sticks for propelling the disc about the board and into the cages and for blocking the portions of said openings not traversable by each said guard member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain Oct. 2, 1924 

